Woolwich voters will have 37 articles to decide upon when voting on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Wednesday, May 13. If approved as presented, the 2015 warrant will authorize expenditures of $1.55 million for Woolwich, which represents a slight decrease from the current year’s budget.

Article 5 is one of the items representing a significant financial commitment. The first provision under article 5 asks voters to approve the appropriation of $900,000 from the undesignated fund balance account to reduce the town’s tax commitment. The second provision of the article would authorize the tax collector or treasurer to accept prepayments of taxes. The third provision of the article seeks the appropriation of $20,000 to fund abatements and applicable interest. Both provisions are similar to provisions previously approved in the 2014 warrant.

Article 11 will be decided by written ballot and seeks an increase in the property tax levy limit of $504,718. The increase is needed because the appropriations approved at the meeting do not take into account Woolwich’s use of surplus to lower taxes and the amount voted will likely exceed the tax levy cap before factoring in the use of the surplus.

Article 30 has four possible provisions, starting with the approval of a pay-per-bag plan for non-recyclable trash collection. If voters approve the first provision, residents will then vote on a reduced budget in the second provision. Instead of a total of $266,549.44 for the total cost of the weekly curbside refuse collection, as well as the biweekly curbside collection of recyclables, the amount would be lowered by the anticipated revenue from the sale of bags, which is estimated by the board to be $35,944.

If approved, the town charge for non-recyclables would be $2 per 30-gallon bag and $1 per 15-gallon bag. The town will continue to pay “tipping fees” and the funds received from the sale of the bags will be applied toward the tipping fees.

If the first provision fails to pass, the residents would then vote on the amount of $266,549.44, which is currently shown in the wording of the second provision. The third provision seeks approval for $25,000 for any unanticipated costs and the final provision asks approval for $2,000 for participation in the Household Hazardous Waste collection, which is an annual event.

Article 31 covers the costs of maintaining the town’s highways and bridges and seeks taxpayer approval of an allocation of $568,248, which is 1.4 percent higher than the budgeted amount for the current year. Of the total requested, $413,148 will be allocated to the costs of plowing snow.

The Woolwich town meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on May 13 and will be held at the Woolwich Central School. Articles will carry based on a simple majority of votes cast. Anyone attending may move to have a written ballot for articles included in the warrant. A copy of the warrant will be posted on May 6.